By Frank Kamuntu
URA enforcement officers have continuously encountered traders that were out rightly smuggling goods into the country in an attempt to skip the taxes and duties that accrue to their goods of choice.
The Iganga enforcement team carried out a 5-hour joint-focused operation on fast-moving products, Unilever products, and engine oil, among others, which led to the successful recovery of several assorted smuggled items.
This focused operation recovered 830 assorted bars of soap, 30 cartons of Pembe wheat flour, 150 dozens of assorted slippers, 16,475 pens, over 882 litres of assorted engine oils, 260kgs of assorted imported rice, 1,700 pieces of geisha bathing soap, 2 cartons of T-guard toothpaste, and over 254 dozens of assorted body jelly.
URA has on several occasions engaged different communities on the dangers of smuggling, with emphasis on education and engaging taxpayers to meet their trade obligations rather than risk facing penalties and fines accrued from smuggling activities.
Once the taxpayers, refuse to heed, URA then engages the enforcement arm to not only level the market field by eliminating illicit goods but also to protect the public from consumption of potentially health-damaging goods.
In this regard, the enforcement team in Mbarara were involved in a car chase with a banned cosmetics smuggler. The team got information through intelligence informers that a smuggler planned to escape with loot through deep short-cut routes.
The team then mounted a chase that intercepted a Toyota Corona UAJ838N that was loaded with 1,386 pieces of Citrolight, 277 pieces of Clair Plus, and 183 pieces of Miki Clair. These crèmes not only damage the melanin in the skin but have been mentioned to potentially contain carcinogenic ingredients such as hydroquinone and mercury that cause skin cancer.
Offence management is underway to deal with the perpetrators of this act. URA’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Bbossa, cautions the public to steer clear of smuggling activities because they risk losing a lot more in fines and penalties arising from offence management.
Additionally, smuggling is an offence as stipulated under Section 200 of the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA).
